


The Comfort of Another (Scifell)

by JustYourAveragePerson



Series: One shots [varied] [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, CPAU, Christmas Party Alternate Universe, Crushes, Crying, Fear, Fell is really drunk, Fell needs hugs, Fluff, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sci is worried, Self-Hatred, Self-cest, Soulmates, Souls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-11-16 15:26:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11255736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustYourAveragePerson/pseuds/JustYourAveragePerson
Summary: Sometimes a few words and the offer of care are all that's needed to get someone to open up.Based off Crayon Queen's CPAU and yoslina_the_sinner's fic, 'Souls Ache'.





	The Comfort of Another (Scifell)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Souls Ache](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7538131) by [yoslina_the_sinner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoslina_the_sinner/pseuds/yoslina_the_sinner). 



Sci was very much aware that there was more to a person than what met the eye.

He'd seen it before, of course. Monsters who had an external personality that hid what they were really like, for one reason or another. And now at the Christmas party, he was seeing it again. That seeing being the reason he was sitting in a dark closet next to a sobbing alternate version of himself.

It had started innocently enough. Being the nerd he was, Sci had attended the party with hopes of meeting other variations of himself and his brother. Curious to see how they acted and lived compared to himself. His hopes had not been disappointed, and even before talking to all of them personally Sci had learned quite a lot.

There were the Classic Sans and Papyrus, from the main timeline. The Swaps, Blueberry and his brother; presumably a role-switch universe with a few... tweaks. There was Geno, a Sans from an altered Classic timeline that Sci honestly felt a bit bad for... and the Fells. Edge and Boss. Of all the attendees, they seemed to fit in the least; they didn't seem to be ones for socializing or parties. Not to mention they were... pretty intimidating.

Sci had chatted with Edge a bit, no more than a few comments back and forth. The edgy didn't seem to have much interest in talking to people, at least not openly, and certainly not in any cheerful or friendly way. Yet, the scientist found himself becoming quite curious about Edge. Whether it was the stiff way he held himself, the way he refused to make eye contact with anyone, the way his eye lights stayed dim and flickered with some withheld emotion, or the strange fluttering of Sci's soul when he was around Edge... something drew Sci to Edge and made him want to know more about the other.

Perhaps that was why he’d tried his hardest to be polite and kind to the other when they’d talked. Perhaps that was why, when he heard that Edge had had a fight with his brother, he went to go find the edgy skeleton. Perhaps that was why he’d led with a joke to lighten the mood. Perhaps that was why, when Edge told him to get in the closet, he accepted without question.

Perhaps that was why he’d offered for Edge to talk to him if he needed to. He hadn’t expected the outburst that followed…

 

* * *

 

“You know… you can talk to me. I’m here for you.”

“Ugh. Don’t say that shit. If you’re gonna do that, leave.” Edge had looked away, disgust curling his expression.

“Wh- woah, what did I do-?”

“We’re not doing the weird… feelsy shit you idiots do. It’s _stupid_.”

“...Edge, you’re being kind of mean.” Sci looked over at the other Sans, concern evident on his face. Edge’s barking laugh following that statement made him jump.

“Oh, imagine that. The guy from Underfell, _mean_! So ridiculous!” The sarcasm in his tone practically dripped off every word. “You wanna know what mean is?”

“Edge, I-” Sci didn’t like where this was going, but Edge completely ignored his quiet protest, a horrible kind of grin on his face.

“Mean is walkin’ out your front door and watchin’ a monster get stabbed and killed on your front lawn. Simply because the monster was ‘too weak’.” He sketched air quotes around the words. “Mean is walkin’ down the street and knowin’ others are _watchin’_. Because you’re brothers with the Great Papyrus, head of the Royal Guard! And ya know they want to kill you too, but they can’t, not without a reason. Because of your brother. But DAMN do they want you dead!”

Sci could see Edge’s composure breaking, his voice cracking and expression falling as he kept talking.

“And you’re terrified. All the time. But ya can’t tell anyone, because that’s what weak monsters do. And ya know that they’re just waitin’ for an excuse. For ya to break. And every single day ya wake up and wonder if it’s gonna be today. If it’s gonna be the last time you ever wake up.” Edge’s eyes dimmed slowly, and Sci could’ve sworn he was about to cry.

“And then ya get invited to some stupid party and ya go because ya have to to gather intel, and everyone’s just… just so… relaxed. Alternate versions of yourself and alternate versions of your bro, and they’re…. They’re happy. They talk, and they joke, and there’s no fear. No front to hold up. No walls. I just…” Edge gave a shaky sigh and lowered his head, his mumble of “I’m sorry,” muffled by his sweater sleeves.

"N- no, it's okay..." Sci cautiously set a hand on Edge's shoulder, and when the other didn't shove him away, he moved a little closer. "I-I didn't know. It's okay..."

"It's  _not_ okay," the edgy mumbled. He was shaking slightly, voice uneven. His face was hidden, so he couldn't be sure, but... Sci could've sworn Edge was crying.

"Edge..." The scientist slowly put an arm around Edge, hugging him gently and blinking when Edge seemed to lean into the touch. Unsure of what else he could do to help, Sci began to quietly hush the other and hum a quiet tune, trying to calm him down. "It's going to be okay, alright..?"

Edge hiccuped, abruptly shifting and wrapping his arms around the other skeleton. Surprising, under normal circumstances, but then again Edge was really drunk and probably wasn't really aware of what he was doing. That didn't change the fact that Sci's soul started beating faster, thumping away at double time in his ribcage. And though he wasn't sure, he thought - or maybe hoped - that from where his hand was positioned on Edge's back, he could feel the other's soul beating a pattern to mimic his own.

Sci had heard the stories. Soulmates, being bound quite literally by their souls, fated to feel every fluctuation in the other's soul beat until it stopped... at which point, their own would too. He'd never quite believed in the stories, but now... sitting here in the dark, his soul fluttering with hope and feeling the warm dizziness he knew to be a crush... no one could blame him for hoping. For the possibility that maybe, just maybe...

Edge drew away, returning to his hunched-over position. Even in the near lightless closet, Sci could see the light coating of pink over the edgy's cheekbones. The scientist stood, stammering something about letting Edge compose himself, but cut himself off when Edge looked up.

"Nerd?"

"Y- yeah, Edge?"

"Thanks," he mumbled, looking away with dimmed eyes. "For, yknow..."

And Sci smiled, knowing he probably was blushing and looking like a total dork. 

And in that moment, he didn't care.

"Any time, Edgy McMCR."

And he walked out of the closet with the sound of Edge's quiet chuckle echoing in his mind and a warm hopefulness lighting up his soul.


End file.
